Minnesota’s ag education leaders come together to discuss transportation, workforce needs, and building smoother paths to success.
Workforce needs and collaboration were front and center at this year’s Minnesota’s Agricultural Higher Education Outlook panel at Farmfest. Moderated by communications strategist Blois Olson, the discussion featured leaders from across Minnesota’s agricultural education landscape—including Keith Olander, Executive Director of AgCentric, and Dr. Hara Charlier, President of Central Lakes College.
They were joined by:
- Dr. Mary Holz-Clause, Chancellor, University of Minnesota Crookston
- Dr. Brian Buhr, Dean, University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
- Dr. Bev Durgan, Dean, University of Minnesota Extension
The panel brought together higher education leaders from both Minnesota State and the University of Minnesota system to address critical workforce challenges and to share how institutions are collaborating to create clear, accessible pathways for students and job seekers.
Keith Olander emphasized that agriculture’s success depends on raising awareness about the career opportunities available and ensuring that training pathways are accessible.
We have a large responsibility in agriculture to teach our consumer and the audience simply that we exist, the careers exist, they are good careers, and there are opportunities for students in the food and fiber system.
keith olander – executive director, agcentric
When discussing solutions for transportation workforce needs, Dr. Hara Charlier pointed to the power of Minnesota State’s Centers of Excellence.
“We’re also very lucky in Minnesota State because our connection is deeply to workforce. We have eight centers of excellence. Keith leads one at Central Lakes College—that’s the Northern Agriculture Center, near and dear to our hearts, of course. And there’s another Southern agriculture center at South Central College. But we also have a Transportation Center of Excellence. So we bring into those conversations people in Minnesota State who are tasked not with supporting a particular college or university or even community, but they’re tasked by our board with serving that particular sector and helping to facilitate curriculum resources. And in those ways, we leverage as many resources as we possibly can to bring what we hope will be a CDL program to Central Lakes College and many others.”
We farm about 2,000 acres at Central Lakes College, all focused on research on coarse sandy soils—making sure that research goes into the hands of our producers.
Dr. Hara Charlier – President, Central Lakes college
Dr. Charlier also spoke about the Minnesota State system’s deep commitment to meeting workforce needs in communities across the state—particularly in agriculture.
“Particularly in a world where we can’t do everything right, the Minnesota State system serves… 54 communities across the entire state of Minnesota. All of our work is dedicated to meeting needs in each individual community. It’s imperative that we continue to focus on agriculture given the workforce shortage that we know is not only coming but is here. Agriculture will continue being a focus in Minnesota State and at Central Lakes College. We believe in programs with certificates, degrees, and diplomas, but we also are deeply embedded in research at CLC. We farm about 2,000 acres at Central Lakes College, all focused on research on coarse sandy soils—making sure that research goes into the hands of our producers. That’s in partnership with the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and many other organizations. It’s a fully self-sustaining entity we’ve been operating for well over 50 years.”
She also shared the story of the Meat Cutting and Butchery Program at Central Lakes College, which came together through partnerships with the Minnesota Farmers Union, support from state legislators, and federal funding secured by Senator Amy Klobuchar. The program is helping address workforce needs while strengthening Minnesota’s food system.
The panel reinforced the value of collaboration between institutions, industry partners, and government agencies to ensure agriculture remains a strong, vibrant career path for future generations.
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